Noir Alley

[Vautrin]

2 hours ago, Dargo said:

Yeah, but don't ya still think that model railroad setup that Robert Newton* has in it is pretty cool?!

(...*-hamming it up again in this one, but in THIS case just enough so to make this movie more enjoyable than it would otherwise be)

I had  forgotten about his model railroad setup. Yeah, he's just  hammy  enough  to be an  intriguing character without going  overboard.

I can't recall which book Newton gave his proposed victim  to read to wile away  the  time. I'm leaning  toward The Decline  and  Fall  of

the Roman Empire,  though  maybe it  was  The Gallic Wars.  Don't tell  me  and spoil the surprise. Edward  Dmytryk directed  this film,

so get ready for  a  BLACKLIST  ALERT!!!!!

 

[jameselliot]

Obsession is tough sledding. I found it boring. On the plus side, it stars Sally Gray.

[laffite]

I just watched The Other Woman (1954) another Hugo Hass with Cleo.  I nominate this movie for Noir Alley somewhere down the line. Miss Moore has a lot more to do in this one.  She still can't act but she was not winc-ible. She is full-fledged femme fatale but she is not very convincing.  She did not use allure to do her dastardly doings but more in a flat situation represented of some stupid scheme. Almost anyone could have done it better.   Hugo is a filmmaker and is interested in art but his father-in-law who is financing the film just wants to make money with the usual fare. Both he and Hugo has some interesting conversations about that, which is a plus for the overall.  Was Haas taking some pot shots at the movie industry? Cleo becomes 'the other woman' when in reality she is no such thing and she is also a blackmailer.  Some bad acting is over emoting and being ridiculous. Cleo has a base line that is essentially quite natural but she cannot build upon it. Hugo Haas is no doubt wholly competent as an actor. How can he not with all that experience. No Other Woman is on youtube.    

[ElCid]

16 hours ago, Dargo said:

Yeah, but don't ya still think that model railroad setup that Robert Newton* has in it is pretty cool?!

(...*-hamming it up again in this one, but in THIS case just enough so to make this movie more enjoyable than it would otherwise be)

I'll have to watch Obsession (1949) just to see the model railroad layout, which I assume is British in nature.

[Fading Fast]

17 hours ago, Dargo said:

Yeah, but don't ya still think that model railroad setup that Robert Newton* has in it is pretty cool?!

(...*-hamming it up again in this one, but in THIS case just enough so to make this movie more enjoyable than it would otherwise be)

That is one of the most-extensive model railroad setups I've seen in a movie. The one in 1938's "Four's a Crowd" is the only better one I can think of. 

[ElCid]

12 minutes ago, Fading Fast said:

That is one of the most-extensive model railroad setups I've seen in a movie. The one in 1938's "Four's a Crowd" is the only better one I can think of. 

I tried to find a clip of it, but couldn't.  Do you know of one for either layout?  Thanks.

Incidentally, model railroad layout means you will lay out an alarming amount of money on it. 😀

[Fading Fast]

19 minutes ago, ElCid said:

I tried to find a clip of it, but couldn't.  Do you know of one for either layout?  Thanks.

Incidentally, model railroad layout means you will lay out an alarming amount of money on it. 😀

Hi, this is a pic of the one in "Obsession:"

 

This is a link to several pics of the layout from "Four's a Crowd" (I couldn't get the pics to post here): https://cinemacats.com/fours-a-crowd-1938/

In that movie, there's a fun scene where Errol Flynn and Walter Connolly race trains on the layout.

 

Since you seem interested, there's also a fun model train scene in the Cary Grant movie "People Will Talk," but I could only find this not-great pic of it:

 

I bet you're familiar with it, but if not, there's a fun department-store layout in the Christmas movie "Holiday Affair:"

[cigarjoe]

I think Roadblock has a scene where Charles McGraw is running a Lionel Layout. He up in the sticks hiding out and the layout is in a General Store if I remember right.

[ElCid]

2 hours ago, Fading Fast said:

Hi, this is a pic of the one in "Obsession:"

 

This is a link to several pics of the layout from "Four's a Crowd" (I couldn't get the pics to post here): https://cinemacats.com/fours-a-crowd-1938/

In that movie, there's a fun scene where Errol Flynn and Walter Connolly race trains on the layout.

 

Since you seem interested, there's also a fun model train scene in the Cary Grant movie "People Will Talk," but I could only find this not-great pic of it:

 

I bet you're familiar with it, but if not, there's a fun department-store layout in the Christmas movie "Holiday Affair:"

Thanks. I have the DVD of Holliday Affair and have seen the trains in People Will Talk.  The one in Obsession is pretty impressive.

[Fading Fast]

6 minutes ago, ElCid said:

Thanks. I have the DVD of Holliday Affair and have seen the trains in People Will Talk.  The one in Obsession is pretty impressive.

Agreed on the one in "Obsession." Did you get a chance to look at the pics in the link from "Four's a Crowd?" Of all the layouts, that the most elaborate one. 

[ElCid]

5 minutes ago, Fading Fast said:

Agreed on the one in "Obsession." Did you get a chance to look at the pics in the link from "Four's a Crowd?" Of all the layouts, that the most elaborate one. 

Saw the pics form Four's a Crowd, but they are all of a cat on a layout, so not a good depiction.  Will have to see the one in Obsession, but to me that may be the most elaborate.

[Fading Fast]

8 minutes ago, ElCid said:

Saw the pics form Four's a Crowd, but they are all of a cat on a layout, so not a good depiction.  Will have to see the one in Obsession, but to me that may be the most elaborate.

It's a shame there aren't better pics of the "Four's a Crowd" one.

I did just find this video that has a bunch of the train scenes from "Four's a Crowd" in it: 

 

[Thompson]

Where is that Canadian Miss Wonderleeee??  Already Wednesday and not a peep out of her.

[Hibi]

On 9/4/2022 at 5:44 PM, Vautrin said:

Bring back SUTS. Hit and Run wasn't  actually bad,  it was  just kind  of boring. Things did perk  up a bit with  the introduction of

the  twin  brother, but that's  not  saying  much. Vince and  Cleo were  two of the dumbest  criminals in noir  and that's saying  a

lot  since many  noir  guys are  pretty stupid. All  they had to  do was  to keep their big  yaps  shut but they couldn't even manage

to do  that. I  noticed that both Vince  and  the lion tamer  gulp their beers, not waiting  for the  foam to go down. Whatever.

It was  funny when  the lion tamer in her atomic  bomb bra walks  out  of  the bar and   each guy spins  around  to  watch  her.  I've

already seen  the movie  that is going to  be on next week. It's much better than this  warmed over plate of tripe. 

Yeah, I was pretty bored and almost turned it off. Very SLOW and statically filmed (not to mention unconvincing). A little Hugo Haas goes a long way. I've seen a few other films of his and this was the worst of them.

[nakano]

8 hours ago, Thompson said:

Where is that Canadian Miss Wonderleeee??  Already Wednesday and not a peep out of her.

The film was not broadcasted in Canada it will be the case also for Obsession .I'am more worried about ARTURO he vanished in the new year,I hope everything is ok with him

[Vautrin]

7 hours ago, Hibi said:

Yeah, I was pretty bored and almost turned it off. Very SLOW and statically filmed (not to mention unconvincing). A little Hugo Haas goes a long way. I've seen a few other films of his and this was the worst of them.

It  was  pretty slow  going  for the most  part.  I get a kick  out of Vince Edwards when he plays the hunky young wise guy.  Not exactly  Shakespeare but he's

fun to  watch.  I've seen a couple of  Haas' other films and  they  were a might  more exciting  than  this  one, which isn't saying  a whole lot.

[Hibi]

Yeah, I got sick of that dining room. Seems like half the film was shot in it!

[JamesJazGuitar]

6 hours ago, nakano said:

The film was not broadcasted in Canada it will be the case also for Obsession .I'am more worried about ARTURO he vanished in the new year,I hope everything is ok with him

Miss Wonderly is known for coming-and-going;  I.e.  not being here for weeks.      A while back she wasn't too happy with me when I said she wasn't a "regular" at this forum just because of how she comes-and-goes.

 

[Dargo]

49 minutes ago, JamesJazGuitar said:

Miss Wonderly is known for coming-and-going;  I.e.  not being here for weeks.      A while back she wasn't too happy with me when I said she wasn't a "regular" at this forum just because of how she comes-and-goes.

 

 

[Dargo]

Btw...wouldn't ya say nobody does as good a Keith Morrison impression as Mr. Hader here?...

(...although, I do seem to hear the slight strains of Kirk Douglas here as well...and ya know, there's not much of a leap from doing Kirk and then to doing a Walter Brennan, ya know)

[Vautrin]

5 hours ago, Hibi said:

Yeah, I got sick of that dining room. Seems like half the film was shot in it!

Probably  doubled as the cast and  crew's "cafeteria," unless  Haas  made them brown bag it.

[Thompson]

How do you tell a phony smile (on and  off the screen) from a smile that was meant to be phony?  
 

It’s tricky.

[Eucalyptus P. Millstone]

1 hour ago, Thompson said:

How do you tell a phony smile (on and  off the screen) from a smile that was meant to be phony? 

I think the difference is the amount of teeth being shown . . . or not being shown. Eyes are also a key indicator.

Phony Smile

 

Smile Meant to Be Phony

 

[lilypond]

I'm glad I checked in--  have not seen "Obsession" ,  and now I will record it.    I like Edward Dmytryk, generally.   His name is always fun to say--  sounds a little like breaking glass.

Wonder why TCM calls it "Obsession".    I thought I read that it was released in the U.S. as "The Hidden Room".   Does anyone know how they decide things like that?  When I hear "Obsession",   I think of the Genevieve Bujold/ Cliff Robertson thriller,  directed by De Palma, I think...

[JamesJazGuitar]

17 hours ago, lilypond said:

I'm glad I checked in--  have not seen "Obsession" ,  and now I will record it.    I like Edward Dmytryk, generally.   His name is always fun to say--  sounds a little like breaking glass.

Wonder why TCM calls it "Obsession".    I thought I read that it was released in the U.S. as "The Hidden Room".   Does anyone know how they decide things like that?  When I hear "Obsession",   I think of the Genevieve Bujold/ Cliff Robertson thriller,  directed by De Palma, I think...

TCM tends to use the original release title based on where the film was made;   E.g.  if a film was made and released in the USA than TCM will use the USA release title and not the British release title (when they are different).